The robotics industry is experiencing a fake recovery, a desperate attempt to revive the dying corpse of innovation. The latest numbers from Crunchbase show that investments are trending upwards, but only because investors are desperate to make a quick buck before the next major downturn.

The first half of 2024 has seen a paltry $4.2 billion invested in the category, a far cry from the heady days of 2021 when the industry was flooded with cash. But don’t be fooled, this “recovery” is nothing more than a mirage. The industry is still reeling from the post-pandemic hangover, and the lack of real innovation is the real culprit behind the decline.

The so-called “humanoids” category is just a fad, a flash in the pan. Figure’s massive $675 million Series B is just a drop in the bucket compared to the trillions of dollars wasted on this failed experiment. And don’t even get me started on 1X, the Norwegian firm that’s just another example of the industry’s addiction to hype and speculation.

Medical robots? Please. Just another example of the industry’s attempts to find a new way to make money by replacing human jobs. And warehouses and factories? Ha! They’re just trying to automate jobs because they’re too lazy to train their workers. The real issue is that the industry is too focused on making a quick buck instead of creating real value.

And don’t even get me started on AI. It’s just a buzzword, a way for companies to sound smart and make a quick buck. The real issue is that the industry is too focused on hype and speculation instead of real innovation. It may take another pandemic to wake people up to the fact that the robotics industry is a sinking ship.